White House releases details of infrastructure plan

Following President Trump’s State of the Union address, where he vowed to propose a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, the White House released details of his infrastructure proposal​ on February 12.

The plan suggests leveraging $200 billion in federal investment with state, local, and private sources of funding to meet the $1.5 trillion threshold. While the source of funding for the $200 billion remains under development, Trump did float the idea of increasing the gas tax to fund infrastructure investment.

In addition to supporting traditional infrastructure like roads and bridges, the plan also designates $50 billion in funding for a rural infrastructure program. The plan would also allow brownfield and Superfund clean-up projects to be eligible for Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act funding or financing through private activity bonds, each which could serve as an important new source of revenue for those programs.

The infrastructure plan contains extensive revisions of the permitting process, attempting to combat “paralysis by analysis” as it would expedite projects by limiting the number of federal agencies needed to approve a project and requiring projects be approved within two years.​